The name is absent

15

in the area (this is discussed more fully below). If smallholder farmers are unable to acquire
land in this way, they are encouraged to approach the local executive council." The
executive council, made up of government appointees, is supposed to work with district-level
extension officers, who in turn consult local individuals of "high standing" in the community.
Generally, government officials do not grant land to smallholders; however, if state-appointed
officials do assist smallholder farmers, they generally assign land that previously belonged
to private colonial farmers or that had been identified by the authorities as unoccupied.

Government officials state that once land is acquired by smallholders, the process stops,
without the issuance of a title or registration, because further action is unnecessary to secure
tenure rights. According to them, occupation is sufficient to secure use rights. ³⁹ This is said
by officials to be part of the formal system for acquiring and securing land by smallholder
farmers. The process described by officials suffers from three critical inconsistencies: First,
it implies that local (customary) authorities have an officially recognized role to play in the
acquisition and distribution of land, and that they are consistently consulted with regard to
land access for smallholders; second, it suggests that the rights of smallholders are secure
based simply upon occupation; and third, it presumes that no tension exists between local
communities and customary authorities, among competing customary authorities, or between
local communities and government officials. All of these assumptions are problematic and are
discussed further in the subsection on customary law.

The official process by which commercial and private-sector farmers acquire and secure
land-use rights differs from that for smallholders. According to the 1979 Land Law and 1987
Land Law Regulations, any party acquiring land for commercial agricultural purposes must
register the holding through the formal tenure system and pay an appropriate land tax.
Different levels of government are supposed to participate in the process depending on the
amount of land requested. Again, in principle, an individual who needs land approaches the
local population (or local land chief, regulo, or other recognized representative) and asks for
land. The interested individual then contacts the district or provincial office of DINAGECA
to begin the process of registration. Once an application is submitted, the provincial office
of DINAGECA investigates the application to determine if the land is suitable and available
for use. Provisional right to occupy the land is granted if a favorable report is received from
the district office. The land is then surveyed by DINAGECA and a usage permit is issued.
In theory, the entire procedure from application to receipt of title and registration should take
about four months—and officials claim that the time is often half of this. In actuality, many
applications require a year or more to be processed. The registration process and its many

38. District Agricultural Officer (DDA), Chokwe, Gaza Province, personal communication, April 1992;
District Agricultural Officer (DDA), Nhamatanda, Sofala Province, personal communication, July 1993; and
Joao Carrilho, personal communication, April 1992.

39. District Agricultural Officer (DDA), Chokwe, Gaza Province, personal communication, April 1992;
District Agricultural Officer (DDA), Nhamatanda, Sofala Province, personal communication, July 1993; Chief,
Provincial Services of DINAGECA, Sofala Province, personal communication, July 1992; Chief, District
Services of DINAGECA, Nhamantanda, Sofala Province, personal communication, July 1992; and Chief,
Provincial Services of DINAGECA, Manica Province, personal communication, August 1992.

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